News & Commentary

LGBT Illinois citizens have long struggled against a legal system that treats families of same-sex couples as legal strangers. The well documented economic and legal toll of that discrimination galvanized the general public’s support for passage of the Illinois Religious Liberty and Marriage Fairness Act, now set to go into effect on June 1, 2014. After passage of the measure, the ACLU of Illinois, along with our allies at Lambda Legal, asked a federal court to insure that the promise of marriage was real for those facing serious illness -- assuring that couples with a partner facing such a circumstance did not have to wait until June. We told the court that if the ailing partner passed away before June, then the guarantee of marriage would never be realized.

The Supreme Court’s decision last year to overturn a key provision of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in the US v. Windsor case was a milestone event for the LGBT community and a vindication of the ACLU’s position that sexual orientation should not limit equal access to participating in society. A New York Times editorial today underscores that very point in its analysis of last week’s Ninth Circuit Court decision which ruled that sexual orientation could not be used as a factor in jury selections. The Times editorial outlines how the Appellate Court decision, written by Judge Reinhardt, built on the ground breaking Windsor case and that the judge’s strongly worded opinion maintained that the precedent for equal dignity for all was tied to equal responsibilities, stating:

For many years, the ACLU and other groups have promoted Gay Straight Alliances (GSA) in public schools as a means of combating bullying and discrimination against LGBTQ youth in public schools. A new study finds that these programs work. The study shows that suicide rates among high schools teenagers are lower in high schools that have a well established gay-straight alliance (GSA)  group.

Continuing an argument that we saw throughout the debate over the freedom to marry, a defiant wedding purveyor vows to continue to turn away business from same-sex couples seeking to celebrate their marriages at his Paxton, Illinois bed and breakfast even if he loses a suit now before the Illinois Human Rights Commission.  Jim Walder told the Paxton Record that he expects the Illinois General Assembly to legislatively exempt business owners like himself from the state’s Marriage Equality Act if their religious beliefs oppose same-sex marriages. He and his lawyer further maintained that they are prepared to appeal any ruling not in their favor on the pending law-suit.  The ACLU of Illinois, which brought the suit against Walder when he refused to book a civil union celebration at his Timber Creek Bed and Breakfast in 2011, told the Paxton Record that the fight for equality for same-sex couples will continue:

The Windy City Times reports that Lazaro v. Orr has been dismissed. The ACLU Illinois and Lambda Legal, filed a motion to dismiss the twin cases that had they filed in 2012 (Lambda Legal's Darby v. Orr and ACLU's Lazaro v. Orr, respectively), which, on behalf of 25 same sex couples, challenged the then existing state marriage-discrimination laws. All parties agreed that passage of the Illinois marriage equality act made the suit moot.  Ed Yohnka, ACLU of Illinois' Director of Communications and Public Policy clarified the distinction between Lazaro vs. Orr and other cases filed against unequal treatment of same sex partners:

The Chicago Tribune reports Cook County Clerk David Orr may immediately begin to issue marriage licenses to same-sex partners combating life-threatening diseases. Couples who present the clerk’s office with physician-certified verification of their illness will not have to wait for the new marriage equality law to go into effect on June 1 of next year. The judge’s order came in response to a class action suit brought by a coalition of attorneys that included the ACLU. The Tribune writes:

The Pantagraph reports that the ACLU has gone to court in Colorado against a wedding vendor who refused to do business with a gay couple planning their post nuptial party. Colorado allows Civil Unions, yet, David Mullins and Charlie Craig were turned away when they tried to place an order for a wedding cake at the Masterpiece Cakeshop in suburban Denver with the owner claiming a conflict with his own religious beliefs. The ACLU of Illinois is representing a couple from Mattoon, Illinois before the Illinois Human Rights Commission. The couple was turned away by two bed & breakfast facilities because they were gay.

The Chicago Tribune reports that passage of the Illinois Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act, which does not go into effect until next June, could have been a case of equality delayed for Vernita Gray, who is battling terminal cancer and whose life expectancy may mean she will die before being able to marry her partner Patricia Ewert.

It is almost impossible to capture the sense of celebration and joy that was present yesterday when Governor Pat Quinn signed into law Senate Bill 10, making Illinois the 16th state to recognize the freedom to marry. Perhaps no line better captured the spirit of the moment than one uttered by Illinois' Lt. Governor Sheila Simon: "It is time to stop planning rallies and start planning weddings!"